TY - JOUR
T1 - Numerical and experimental analysis of a natural ventilation windcatcher with passive heat recovery for mild-cold climates
AU - Calautit, John
AU - O'Connor, Dominic
AU - Shahzad, Sally
AU - Calautit, Katrina
AU - Hughes, Ben
PY - 2019/2/28
Y1 - 2019/2/28
N2 - In this work, a novel design incorporating a passive heat recovery device into a windcatcher was proposed and investigated using numerical and experimental analysis. The proposed system incorporates a rotary thermal heat recovery in the windcatcher channel. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate the effect of the heat recovery device on the performance of the windcatcher, highlighting the capabilities of the system to deliver the required fresh air rates. The windcatcher model was incorporated to a 5m x 5m x 3m test room model representing a small classroom. The study employed the CFD code Fluent18 with the k-epsilon model to conduct the simulations. The numerical model provided detailed analysis of the airflow and temperature distribution inside the test room. A 1:10 scale prototype of the system was created and tested experimentally in a closed-loop subsonic wind tunnel to validate the CFD investigations. Despite the blockage of the rotary t heat recovery wheel, ventilation rates were able to provide adequate ventilation. In addition to sufficient ventilation, the heat in the exhaust airstreams was captured and transferred to the incoming airstream, raising the temperature between 1-4K depending on the indoor/outdoor conditions, this passive recovery has the potential to reduce demand on space heating systems. According to WBCSD, a recovery of 3 K from the exhaust stream to the inlet stream could generate energy savings up to 20% in heating costs. This shows that the concept has significant potential to be developed further, whereby the heat transfer properties of the system can be investigated and tested on a larger scale.
AB - In this work, a novel design incorporating a passive heat recovery device into a windcatcher was proposed and investigated using numerical and experimental analysis. The proposed system incorporates a rotary thermal heat recovery in the windcatcher channel. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate the effect of the heat recovery device on the performance of the windcatcher, highlighting the capabilities of the system to deliver the required fresh air rates. The windcatcher model was incorporated to a 5m x 5m x 3m test room model representing a small classroom. The study employed the CFD code Fluent18 with the k-epsilon model to conduct the simulations. The numerical model provided detailed analysis of the airflow and temperature distribution inside the test room. A 1:10 scale prototype of the system was created and tested experimentally in a closed-loop subsonic wind tunnel to validate the CFD investigations. Despite the blockage of the rotary t heat recovery wheel, ventilation rates were able to provide adequate ventilation. In addition to sufficient ventilation, the heat in the exhaust airstreams was captured and transferred to the incoming airstream, raising the temperature between 1-4K depending on the indoor/outdoor conditions, this passive recovery has the potential to reduce demand on space heating systems. According to WBCSD, a recovery of 3 K from the exhaust stream to the inlet stream could generate energy savings up to 20% in heating costs. This shows that the concept has significant potential to be developed further, whereby the heat transfer properties of the system can be investigated and tested on a larger scale.
KW - computational fluid dynamics
KW - heat recovery
KW - passive ventilation
KW - windcatcher
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063902085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.egypro.2019.01.1011
DO - 10.1016/j.egypro.2019.01.1011
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85063902085
VL - 158
SP - 3125
EP - 3130
JO - Energy Procedia
JF - Energy Procedia
SN - 1876-6102
T2 - 10th International Conference on Applied Energy, ICAE 2018
Y2 - 22 August 2018 through 25 August 2018
ER -